Share this story

In news that will have Star Wars fans exclaiming, “cool, cool-cool-cool,” LucasFilm confirmed on Friday that it had cast comedian, actor, and rapper Donald Glover to portray “young Lando Calrissian” in the first Han Solo origin-story film. Glover will star alongside previously announced Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich in the still-unnamed film, which is set to launch in theaters sometime in 2018.

Glover, who broke out as a writer on 30 Rock before starring in the weird-and-hilarious series Community, will portray Calrissian "in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld," according to a LucasFilm statement. The announcement didn't mention previously leaked details about the Solo film leading off a trilogy, to which Ehrenreich is already signed in case the first film does well enough at the box office.

According to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (of Clone High, Jump Street, and LEGO Movie fame), who will be directing the first Solo film:

We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us. These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.

Fan campaigns have sprung up over the years begging Hollywood to cast Glover in a number of nerd and comic properties. The most popular of these, back in 2011, rallied for Glover to portray Spider-Man. As it turns out, Glover did get cast in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming, though his role in that reboot-of-a-reboot is currently still unconfirmed. (Personal vote: I think he'd make for a cool Venom.)

This news will probably heighten further expectations about younger, well-known actors recreating any known Star Wars characters who would fit into a young-Han storyline. (Perhaps more actor-slash-rappers, as well; maybe this could mean more Mos Def in sci-fi movies?) Wookiee guessers, please speculate about your favorite young, super-tall celebrities in the comments section below.